10 Best Holiday Love Scenes

Often the holiday season can feel hectic and stressed. Holiday shopping, traffic, and family demands can take a toll on you, and it can be hard to find time to relax. Get back in a joyous frame of mind by checking out some of these classic holiday romances — hot cocoa optional!

Twentieth Century Fox/Photofes

An Affair to Remember (1957)

This beloved holiday classic tells the love story of Nickie Ferrante (Cary Grant) and Terry McKay (Deborah Kerr). The two meet and fall in love, but they each split up to pursue their own endeavors, making a pact to meet in six months' time at the top of the Empire State Building. An accident, miscommunication, and heartbreak ensues, but on Christmas Eve, it all culminates in (spoiler alert!)…a happy ending.

Credit:Everett Collection

Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)

It's hard to resist the quirky, lovable charms of Bridget Jones (Renée Zellweger), but the self-avowed singleton can't seem to manage her love life. She makes several bad relationship decisions and ends up in a love triangle with Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) and Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant). However, both hilarity and real love win out. (Best of all, Darcy's much-mocked ugly Christmas sweater has led to many "ugly sweater" parties over the holidays.)

Everett Collection

Meet Me in St. Louis (1945)

This holiday classic was the origin for one of the most well-known Christmas songs of all time, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (as sung by Judy Garland). However, this feel-good family favorite also tells of the romances between the two sisters Rose (Lucille Bremer) and Esther (Garland) and their erstwhile beaus, all of which culminate at Christmastime. (Bonus: Garland actually fell in love with the director, Vincente Minnelli, during filming. They later married and had one child: Liza Minnelli!)

TriStar Pictures/Photofest

Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

Sam (Tom Hanks) is a widower who lives in Seattle with his precocious son, Jonah. One night Jonah calls into a popular radio station to ask for love advice for his dad, and Annie (Meg Ryan) just happens to be listening. She writes a letter to Sam, which Jonah insists he read, and from there, their love story ensues (with many tributes to An Affair to Remember, including a climactic meeting on the top of the Empire State Building).

Everett Collection

Christmas in Connecticut (1945)

Barbara Stanwyck plays Elizabeth Lane, a celebrated food writer who writes a homemaking column that is beloved by the country. Just one problem: She isn't the married homemaker she pretends to be, nor does she even know how to cook! The problem turns romantic when her newspaper plans for returning solider Jefferson Jones (Dennis Morgan) to have Christmas dinner at her house. Mishaps unfold, but real love conquers all just in time for the holiday ham.

Everett Collection

The Holiday (2006)

Amanda Woods (Cameron Diaz) and Iris Simpkins (Kate Winslet) live halfway across the world from each other, but one holiday season they meet online and decide to swap homes to get a break from their own troubled lives. Amanda ends up falling for Iris's brother Graham (Jude Law) in London, while Iris explores her own love story with Miles (Jack Black) in LA. In the end, their holiday ends up giving them exactly what they were looking for, even before the New Year's ball drops!

Photofest

Love Actually (2003)

This holiday film is all about finding that special someone and making it work. The ensemble cast features celebrities like Colin Firth, Keira Knightley, Emma Thompson, and Liam Neeson, and the movie tells the story through ten separate vignettes, each of which explores a different aspect of love and happiness. This tearjerker will have you reaching for the mistletoe in no time!

Paramount Pictures / Photofest

White Christmas (1954)

This holiday classic has been a part of many Christmas celebrations over the years, and it's easy to see why. From the feel-good message to the song-and-dance numbers to the love stories of the four stars (Danny Kaye, Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen), you will soon be excitedly hoping for your own white Christmas.

20th Century Fox/Photofest

The Family Stone (2005)

This hilarious holiday romance is the story of Meredith (Sarah Jessica Parker) and her boyfriend Everett (Dermot Mulroney). Meredith is a successful executive who is used to city life in Manhattan, so when she meets Everett's family in a small snow-covered town over Christmas, she soon finds that her conservative ways are in sharp contrast to that of his liberal, hippie family. Anyone who has ever gone to "meet the parents" over the holidays can certainly relate to this romantic comedy, and it can certainly give you some pointers on what not to do!

RKO/Photofest

It's a Wonderful Life (1947)

Although not technically a romance, this classic movie has a powerful message about the importance of love and family over the holiday season. It features James Stewart as family man George Bailey, who is beaten down by a bad economy and whose depression darkens his view about the powerful and positive impact of family and friends. An angel helps him understand the value of his life and his loved ones by showing him what his town would be like if he'd never existed, and George returns just in time to shower his wife Mary (Donna Reed) with kisses to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne."

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